Thursday, July 18, 2019

Hensall Co-op celebrated the opening of its new fertilizer blending facility at its Open House and Plot Tour held on July 10th. Attendees were given the opportunity to tour the new state of the art fertilizer blender that can blend up to 750 MT in an hour. Dekalb, C&M, NK and Croplan provided informative sessions overlooking the plots that are finally coming along following our incredibly wet spring.

This was followed by the official ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by all four levels of government to illustrate a strong commitment to agriculture in Ontario. Gregg Davidson (Mayor of Mapleton Township), Randy Pettapiece (MPP Perth Wellington), John Nater (MP Perth Wellington) and Senator Rob Black all gave greetings to the audience.

Brad Chandler, CEO of Hensall Co-op, spoke to the crowd about the key role that the co-operative plays in growing agriculture in Ontario. He stated, “Politics aside, Canadian foodstuffs are sought after because consumers around the world are confident in their quality. The market for plant-based proteins is expanding and the consumption of meat in developing countries continues to grow. We want to see the Canadian Farmer gain from this opportunity and that is why we are focused on growth. This investment was made in our Eastern frontier. We recently entered the market in Tilbury and Harrow to the south. To the west, we have added a processing facility in Manitoba to improve our value stream to get to the Asian Market.”

Mr. Chandler also congratulated the team on completing the facility on time in tough circumstances. “We believe this is a fantastic facility with innovative equipment and the best employees. The fact it was completed in time despite the challenge of a winter build following a wet spring is a testament to what we can offer to add value to your farms. It's not just the tower – we have new concrete in the warehouse, new liquid fertilizer capability and an office. Thank you to Neil Driscoll and the entire the Drayton team for your dedication throughout Plant19 – it's one we will all remember.”